I am starting this page to hold some of the photos and commentary on some of my travel.
I initially started putting some of these photos and commentary on my blog on myspace but myspace sizes the photos smaller and at times can be unreliable so I
thought that before I get too far behind I'd put some things here. My first blog on this subject was called Life after divorce in a recession.
I am starting to write something of a diary of my life after my divorce, my 3rd divorce. Many people that know me have read my ship's logs from my time spent
aboard "Spirit of Nemo", a boat I lived and sailed on for three plus years after my first divorce. I intend to follow the same thinking and document my travels,
activities, thoughts and feelings as I did in the past.
I will try to keep some of the innocent individual names and identities a little more discreet than I did in my ship's log and although the amusement factor may
drop a little, in the end it may be a better idea. I have a lot of shots of my kids and if I really know you and you really know their mom and want copies maybe ask
her as I don't really want to post pictures of my kids on the Internet. I also tend to not post too many photos of individuals unless they are already in the public
eye or are in the music business, have an Internet presence or are models.
I generally have always moved onto a boat but during my second marriage I lived with my wife at the time in a 35 foot long 5th wheel trailer for about six years.
I am comfortable in RVs, busses and with their plumbing systems, electrical systems and diesel engines. I am quite comfortable and prefer having everything I
need within close reach and being self contained. If you buy into the astrology thing at all, perhaps it makes sense as I am a cancer … a crab that takes his
home with him, his shell.
I worked in the corporate world since 1973 and in 2002 I decided to leave the world of business and meeting and go full time into the music business. My
website at www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com tells most of that story so I will refrain from repeating it here.
In July 2008 my wife of 21 years and I divorced. It was really not much of a surprise and many people felt it was long overdue. Like my second divorce, it was on
very good terms and went smoothly. No fights, minimal expense and the kids were happy. I think the last ten plus years was filled with steps moving toward q
divorce and nobody, including our two boys, was particularly surprised. Since money, property and everything else was already separate we were able to pick
an official date to end the marriage and I asked the lawyers if I could pick August 8th. They as why that date and I explained that it was August 8th that was my
separation date from the military decades earlier. It just seemed like a great date. I also insisted that my ex-wife filed papers on me so I could continue to say
that I never left anybody … that the always left me. My final point on which I would not compromise was that she had to keep my dog at her house. I work with
a lot of country music folks and like an old country song I wanted a story to tell …. "she kicked me out and kept my dog". My other two ex wives also kept my dog
as a side note.
I was ready to move back onto a boat but had too many friends and contacts all over the USA that were nowhere near water. I also had a business with clients
in the music industry which I needed to support and amplifier designers with whom I consult. The option of the boat was dropped and the option of a
motorhome was chosen. I have been to many countries and most of the states of the USA. I seem to be happy when I am on the move and will be going to as
many places that I feel may be interesting.
With the economy down and the price of gas up I was able to find a nice diesel motorhome built on a Freightliner chassis … Allison six speed, air brakes, self
leveling air ride suspension, 7.5kw generator, 2kw inverter (can work on amps and play them even without the generator) and even more. When I was married,
my wife was into antiques so we had a double bed for the length of our marriage. I now have a queen size bed. I had three drawers in the bedroom. I now have
about a dozen and over half are empty. My shower is bigger than the shower I had in the house we had. I don't cook but have a side by side fridge and freezer
with icemaker and a microwave and convection oven. It was a great deal.
When I travel on a boat or on land the destination is usually little more than a place to turn around and head back or to take off from for another destination.
Pilots and sailors seem to understand this concept better than most other types of people.
The photos are being taken with a digital camera sometimes but also on my cell phone a lot of the time and those can be of poor quality but you will at least
get a general idea.
I initially started putting some of these photos and commentary on my blog on myspace but myspace sizes the photos smaller and at times can be unreliable so I
thought that before I get too far behind I'd put some things here. My first blog on this subject was called Life after divorce in a recession.
I am starting to write something of a diary of my life after my divorce, my 3rd divorce. Many people that know me have read my ship's logs from my time spent
aboard "Spirit of Nemo", a boat I lived and sailed on for three plus years after my first divorce. I intend to follow the same thinking and document my travels,
activities, thoughts and feelings as I did in the past.
I will try to keep some of the innocent individual names and identities a little more discreet than I did in my ship's log and although the amusement factor may
drop a little, in the end it may be a better idea. I have a lot of shots of my kids and if I really know you and you really know their mom and want copies maybe ask
her as I don't really want to post pictures of my kids on the Internet. I also tend to not post too many photos of individuals unless they are already in the public
eye or are in the music business, have an Internet presence or are models.
I generally have always moved onto a boat but during my second marriage I lived with my wife at the time in a 35 foot long 5th wheel trailer for about six years.
I am comfortable in RVs, busses and with their plumbing systems, electrical systems and diesel engines. I am quite comfortable and prefer having everything I
need within close reach and being self contained. If you buy into the astrology thing at all, perhaps it makes sense as I am a cancer … a crab that takes his
home with him, his shell.
I worked in the corporate world since 1973 and in 2002 I decided to leave the world of business and meeting and go full time into the music business. My
website at www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com tells most of that story so I will refrain from repeating it here.
In July 2008 my wife of 21 years and I divorced. It was really not much of a surprise and many people felt it was long overdue. Like my second divorce, it was on
very good terms and went smoothly. No fights, minimal expense and the kids were happy. I think the last ten plus years was filled with steps moving toward q
divorce and nobody, including our two boys, was particularly surprised. Since money, property and everything else was already separate we were able to pick
an official date to end the marriage and I asked the lawyers if I could pick August 8th. They as why that date and I explained that it was August 8th that was my
separation date from the military decades earlier. It just seemed like a great date. I also insisted that my ex-wife filed papers on me so I could continue to say
that I never left anybody … that the always left me. My final point on which I would not compromise was that she had to keep my dog at her house. I work with
a lot of country music folks and like an old country song I wanted a story to tell …. "she kicked me out and kept my dog". My other two ex wives also kept my dog
as a side note.
I was ready to move back onto a boat but had too many friends and contacts all over the USA that were nowhere near water. I also had a business with clients
in the music industry which I needed to support and amplifier designers with whom I consult. The option of the boat was dropped and the option of a
motorhome was chosen. I have been to many countries and most of the states of the USA. I seem to be happy when I am on the move and will be going to as
many places that I feel may be interesting.
With the economy down and the price of gas up I was able to find a nice diesel motorhome built on a Freightliner chassis … Allison six speed, air brakes, self
leveling air ride suspension, 7.5kw generator, 2kw inverter (can work on amps and play them even without the generator) and even more. When I was married,
my wife was into antiques so we had a double bed for the length of our marriage. I now have a queen size bed. I had three drawers in the bedroom. I now have
about a dozen and over half are empty. My shower is bigger than the shower I had in the house we had. I don't cook but have a side by side fridge and freezer
with icemaker and a microwave and convection oven. It was a great deal.
When I travel on a boat or on land the destination is usually little more than a place to turn around and head back or to take off from for another destination.
Pilots and sailors seem to understand this concept better than most other types of people.
The photos are being taken with a digital camera sometimes but also on my cell phone a lot of the time and those can be of poor quality but you will at least
get a general idea.
| Travel page 1 ... what I have been doing and where I have been going |
| Backtracking a bit, this was a day trip with my two youngest boys where we stopped for fresh crab. Folks that know me know how I feel about crab. |
| There can be some strange folks on the Internet so I don't generally post photos of kids but this is from far enough away that I can post this of my two boys half way up a sand dune. The youngest went all the way to the top. |
| This is the small RV. V-10 Triton gas engine and 8 MPG. The "bus" has a Cummins diesel and is twice the size and on my last trip back from Flagstaff got 12.3 MPG |
| This is what I refer to as "the bus". 75+ mph, diesel, six speed Allison, two air conditioners, two heaters, 7.5kw generator and an inverter allow me to work on amps anywhere. For all intensive purposes this is my house |
| This was my first stop on a trip to Las Vegas. I stayed with friends and spent time at the MGM grand hotel in their Skylofts section. If you are ever in Vegas go see Skylofts at the MGM Grand. Dinner was at the Wynn in a great Asian restaurant and I made a new friend named Jennifer. |
| Impromptu lunch stop on the way to Vegas. It just looked interesting and I was hungry. Mexican food ... great asada tacos. |
| Rest stop on the way to Vegas. I like this shot because the angle makes the bus look like a compact size car. It is actually as tall as the truck and as wide. |
| Excuse a lot of these shots as most were taken by my cell phone camera and at night they are just awful. |
| Not a lot of people. Maybe the economy? |
| On the way back to L.A. I stopped for lunch at Peggy Sue's 50s diner |
| Lake Havisu and points east |
The afternoon of 10/20... I was planning to head to Flagstaff to visit Ludovic Pierson ( www.pierson-amps.com ) I did a bit of checkout on the bus.
My first stop was in Barstow. I stopped for fuel and after fueling up I parked and had breakfast at the restaurant at the truck stop.
After fuel and breakfast I drove across the freeway to another truck stop where they had propane. My generator runs off propane rather than diesel fuel and has
it's own 42 gallon tank. There is another propane tank for the heater, hot water and stove. I topped up both tanks as they had not been filled since September. I
could only get 7 gallons total into both of the tanks. I don't cook much on the stove as there is a microwave and convection oven. The generator only needs to
be run every three or four days when I have no outside electrical power to recharge the batteries. The generator use takes less than 15 minutes for a full battery
recharge and it burns about 0.7 gallons per hour, so every three or four days I use less than a quarter of a gallon of generator propane.
The generator does not have to run to use the TV as there is an inverter in the bus that will create AC from the batteries for general appliances. Many parks do
not allow generator use after 10pm so having the inverter is a big plus.
In the past when I have been divorced I always moved on a boat. This time I wanted to do something different as I had too many friends all over the USA that
are not near the ocean. I also felt "been there ... done that" so that was part of the change as well. I have been meeting a lot of interesting people everywhere I
stop which in a number of cases have become new friends. In this day of instant communication we exchange phone numbers and email addresses. I already
have invitations to park in a number of places that were extended by people I have met.
The only downside so far has been when I arrive in a new place that has things to do that my two boys would love. They are at home with their mother and in
school. Since their mother and I divorced I have spent more time with the boys than when their mother and I were married. They are both great kids and over
winter break and next summer I plan to take them along with me as often as they want to go. The other night I was talking to their mother when I was in Lake
Havisu. She was just ending a hard and busy day and one of the boys or perhaps both of them were acting as teenage boys act (read not very helpful) and she
joked with me that she wanted to trade positions with me .... she'd take the bus and she thought I should move back into the house with the boys. She was joking
but parts of what she was saying was a little bit less of a joke. I declined her offer
There are a lot of vacation homes at Lake Havisu and a boat that takes you from one side of the lake to a casino on the other side of the lake for $3.00 to go to
the casino but there is no charge to come back. The one way charge reminded me of the Seattle - Winslow ferry.
After I saw the sign show all the rental stuff I got slightly depressed and called Natalie. I wished that I had my two boys with me. They would have loved it. I
would have rented them anything they wanted
Below are a few shots of appetizers, many shots of rum and a BBQ dinner. I was invited to dinner and spent all night with the family of 5 that was on a trip
together after two of the group were married in Durango Colorado on 10/16. Great new friends were made and I think everybody finally went to sleep at 2:30am
but that is another story for another time.
There is a story behind the towel shots. This was late in the evening after dinner. Since there had been nonstop beer and rum a decision was made to go skinny
dipping in the lake. After all, it was dark and it seemed private enough. On the left is Stefanie who is the new bride of Alan. On the right is Toni who is Stefanie's
best friend who came along on the trip. The grandmother of Stefanie is Barbara who is a very cool lady. Stefanie also had her 17 year old son Travis along. They
are all into kyacks and had a lot of them. But ... I digress.
So ... folks are in the lake and Travis decides it would be fun to turn on the headlights of the RV they had which illuminated the water activities. I suppose I should
just stop writing about this here as it was one of those "you had to be there" situations.
Alan was the chef on the BBQ, the new husband and the one that took control of the skinny dipping situation after Travis turned on the lights.
Excuse any spelling errors here or things that don't make too much sense as I copied a lot of this text from my blog and in the future will just write most things here.
My first stop was in Barstow. I stopped for fuel and after fueling up I parked and had breakfast at the restaurant at the truck stop.
After fuel and breakfast I drove across the freeway to another truck stop where they had propane. My generator runs off propane rather than diesel fuel and has
it's own 42 gallon tank. There is another propane tank for the heater, hot water and stove. I topped up both tanks as they had not been filled since September. I
could only get 7 gallons total into both of the tanks. I don't cook much on the stove as there is a microwave and convection oven. The generator only needs to
be run every three or four days when I have no outside electrical power to recharge the batteries. The generator use takes less than 15 minutes for a full battery
recharge and it burns about 0.7 gallons per hour, so every three or four days I use less than a quarter of a gallon of generator propane.
The generator does not have to run to use the TV as there is an inverter in the bus that will create AC from the batteries for general appliances. Many parks do
not allow generator use after 10pm so having the inverter is a big plus.
In the past when I have been divorced I always moved on a boat. This time I wanted to do something different as I had too many friends all over the USA that
are not near the ocean. I also felt "been there ... done that" so that was part of the change as well. I have been meeting a lot of interesting people everywhere I
stop which in a number of cases have become new friends. In this day of instant communication we exchange phone numbers and email addresses. I already
have invitations to park in a number of places that were extended by people I have met.
The only downside so far has been when I arrive in a new place that has things to do that my two boys would love. They are at home with their mother and in
school. Since their mother and I divorced I have spent more time with the boys than when their mother and I were married. They are both great kids and over
winter break and next summer I plan to take them along with me as often as they want to go. The other night I was talking to their mother when I was in Lake
Havisu. She was just ending a hard and busy day and one of the boys or perhaps both of them were acting as teenage boys act (read not very helpful) and she
joked with me that she wanted to trade positions with me .... she'd take the bus and she thought I should move back into the house with the boys. She was joking
but parts of what she was saying was a little bit less of a joke. I declined her offer
There are a lot of vacation homes at Lake Havisu and a boat that takes you from one side of the lake to a casino on the other side of the lake for $3.00 to go to
the casino but there is no charge to come back. The one way charge reminded me of the Seattle - Winslow ferry.
After I saw the sign show all the rental stuff I got slightly depressed and called Natalie. I wished that I had my two boys with me. They would have loved it. I
would have rented them anything they wanted
Below are a few shots of appetizers, many shots of rum and a BBQ dinner. I was invited to dinner and spent all night with the family of 5 that was on a trip
together after two of the group were married in Durango Colorado on 10/16. Great new friends were made and I think everybody finally went to sleep at 2:30am
but that is another story for another time.
There is a story behind the towel shots. This was late in the evening after dinner. Since there had been nonstop beer and rum a decision was made to go skinny
dipping in the lake. After all, it was dark and it seemed private enough. On the left is Stefanie who is the new bride of Alan. On the right is Toni who is Stefanie's
best friend who came along on the trip. The grandmother of Stefanie is Barbara who is a very cool lady. Stefanie also had her 17 year old son Travis along. They
are all into kyacks and had a lot of them. But ... I digress.
So ... folks are in the lake and Travis decides it would be fun to turn on the headlights of the RV they had which illuminated the water activities. I suppose I should
just stop writing about this here as it was one of those "you had to be there" situations.
Alan was the chef on the BBQ, the new husband and the one that took control of the skinny dipping situation after Travis turned on the lights.
Excuse any spelling errors here or things that don't make too much sense as I copied a lot of this text from my blog and in the future will just write most things here.
| Running around with Nicole and her friends all night was a bit too much sensory overload for me and Jennifer seemed to think the same thing so the two of us went off on our own. |
| Getting ready in the late afternoon so I could have an early start in the morning. |
| My first stop was in Barstow for fuel and breakfast |
| Lots of other folks parked in Barstow for fuel and breakfast too |
| Parked and shut it down for breakfast |
| Where I had breakfast ... and I usually don't even eat breakfast yet I had what they called their "traditional trucker's breakfast" and your guess of what is was is probably not too far from reality :) |
| Back on the road at a rest stop |
| In Lake Havisu parked on the beach less than 100 feet from the water |
| Alan. The groom in the wedding and the chef. |
| Barbara. The mother of Stefanie who was the bride to Alan. Stefanie's son Travis who is 17 was there too. Somehow I missed getting photos of him which is too bad. |
| Just two of their multiple kyacks. |
| My bus in the distance. I was their neighbor for the afternoon, evening and next morning. |
| I don't post photos all that often of people but since these folks were an integral part of the skinny dipping incident I could not resist. Toni on the right is Stefanie's best friend |
| Why is Alan pointing at me? Turning on the headlights while everybody was in the lake wasn't MY idea! Travis got the idea on his own! |
| This sign made me wish my two boys were on the trip with me. |
| Back on the road. Leaving Lake Havisu and heading toward Flagstaff. |
| Leaving the desert behind and climbing in elevation the scenery changed ... cooler weather and trees. |
| .... and ..... on the road to Flagstaff and in Flagstaff Arizona |
Backing up in time a bit to yesterday ... I left Lake Havisu at 9:00am.
Heading east on highway 40 above, one still has a way to go to get out of the desert. There were high winds that started the night before just after midnight and
the winds were still strong through the desert on the drive.
There were some great rock formations but unfortunately my photographic skills are lacking and my equipment is not what one would call first rate. To be
honest, even with great camera equipment my compositional skills would not have yielded results much better.
Leaving the desert and hitting 4000 feet in elevation coupled with lower temperatures the forest and Ponderosa pines came into the picture.
The trip should have taken me about three hours from Lake Havisu to Flagstaff but ended up taking five and a half hours. The bus can cruise easily at 75 which
was the speed limit but I tend to stop a lot whenever I see something that looks interesting. I guess taking twice as long to get from point A to point B is faster
than when I voyaged on the ocean. A 90 day leave of absence from Data General to take off on my boat at that time turned into three and a half years.
I get delayed at rest stops. People who travel in motorhomes or RVs tend to be outgoing, friendly and not bogged down with conventional day to day routines.
Everybody says hello, asks where you are from and the next thing you know 30 minutes have passed.
I pulled off the freeway at one point to walk around for a few minutes and have a smoke. A few minutes later a big rig pulled off the freeway on the offramp
behind me. It was a big Kenworth tractor, one of those huge ones with the king size bed in the tractor, high def TV, a head and towing a 53 foot trailer. The
driver got out and walked over to say hello. Her name is Maggie Wincott. She is 38 years old. Think of the gal in the Carl's Jr. commercial where there is a blond
gal in a western hat and western boots in a big rig eating a burger and you've got a pretty darn accurate picture. She asked questions about the bus and I
explained that I lived in it full time. She said that in a few years she planned to do the same thing. She lives in her truck and said she had only seen home two
times in 2008. She has a house in Lexington Kentucky. She was on her way to Phoenix. After Phoenix she was headed to Austin Texas and then to New Orleans.
We talked about New Orleans and shared some Mrs. Fields cookies I had in the bus and just visited for a while. We exchanged emails and phone numbers and
we were both on our way. Unconventional gal with an interesting lifestyle. We talked a few times over the next few hours. She has bluetooth and I do not so I'd
have to pull off the road when a call came in.
Like I said ... I can get sidetracked and don't like to keep a schedule. I kept schedules my entire life short of my boating days and do not intend to have a
schedule or day of the week impact my life again.
I was only 15 miles from Flagstaff and 15 minutes from my final destination which was Ludo's house according to the GPS when a rest area appeared. I had
already called Ludo a few times to tell him of my delay. He was not going to be home until 1:00pm originally and after the first time I called he knew he did not
have to rush to meet me. I had to stop at the rest stop as it was pretty spectacular in the middle of a forest.
The weather was cool and crisp at the higher elevation. The bus runs great at higher elevations as it has a turbo that compensates for altitude changes.
When I arrived in Flagstaff the first thing Ludo said he needed to do was do a bit of shopping for some wine. He had a dinner with friends that evening and I had
been invited. Below is Sam's Club where we went shopping.
About 6:00pm Ludo and I went to his friends for dinner. I met Dieter and Vivian. Dieter has been a hotel executive and has run casinos in Las Vegas. I don't
recall what Vivian does for work. Dieter and Vivian used to be married but are divorced and still great friends. I feel the same way about my ex wife Natalie.
Vivian is a pretty darn impressive lady. She defines herself as being spiritual. She has been to the San Blas Islands and that was one of the topics of conversation
between the two of us. She was in many of the same places I had been and was maybe the first person she had been able to share talking about the place with.
Vivian is also a sun gazer. She explained that you don't gaze at the sun at noon unless you want to go blind but can gaze at it during early sunrise and sunset.
She explained that you receive a certain form of energy and well being. She is a personal trainer and lives in Las Vegas.
I work with a lot of models on that side of my business and Vivian is in her late fifties with the complexion that would put most twenty year olds to shame. Her
haircut was short and it was really a great cut. I would not attempt to shoot a picture as it would not do her justice. Maybe Ludo can take a picture of her
sometime. As a side note, Vivian has been married four times. Maybe three times depending on your way of thinking as she was married very young to the same
person twice. She is a really amazing girl. I won't say woman as her life and spirit are unspoiled and she is a free spirit, open, intelligent, educated woman.
Dieter and Vivian served a great dinner with ceviche to start and a southwestern inspired main course complete with chips in the entree home made by Dieter.
Flan was a perfect dessert and the wine never stopped flowing.
Standing on the balcony outside between courses to have a smoke it was cool and crisp outside with thousands of stars visible in the sky. Vivian and I talked on
the balcony and she shared my cigarette even though she does not smoke. I guess I can be a bad influence. Vivian seemed to me to be the type of girl that
would do a lot of things just to have a new life experience. I think Dieter shares some of the same qualities and I saw a sky diving certificate in his house. He also
stuck me as a very well versed, well educated world traveller who has a very high degree of expertise when it comes to food. The decor in his home was very
impressive in a southwestern theme but not in the way that is typical which most would picture. It was classy and elegant. Great artwork. The music in the
background was Flamenco at times and other forms of music which was all perfect for the evening. I hope to be able to talk to him again in the future.
After a half a dozen large glasses of wine at high altitude I was glad it was a short drive back to the house and I was glad Ludo was driving!
We got back home after 11pm. I started the night in Ludo's house in the guest room. The house is large and two stories. The guest room is upstairs and after
waking up a few times to get a drink of water after being dried out by all the wine I retired to my bus where water could not mean a trip down and back up the
stairs.
In the morning I went on a walk around the area with Ludo and Wylie before Ludo went off to work. It is a lovely area with a lake, fish, ducks, geese and elk. It
was cool on our walk. 30 degrees in the shade and maybe 50 in the sun. There was ice on the ground during the walk. Very clean air.
Heading east on highway 40 above, one still has a way to go to get out of the desert. There were high winds that started the night before just after midnight and
the winds were still strong through the desert on the drive.
There were some great rock formations but unfortunately my photographic skills are lacking and my equipment is not what one would call first rate. To be
honest, even with great camera equipment my compositional skills would not have yielded results much better.
Leaving the desert and hitting 4000 feet in elevation coupled with lower temperatures the forest and Ponderosa pines came into the picture.
The trip should have taken me about three hours from Lake Havisu to Flagstaff but ended up taking five and a half hours. The bus can cruise easily at 75 which
was the speed limit but I tend to stop a lot whenever I see something that looks interesting. I guess taking twice as long to get from point A to point B is faster
than when I voyaged on the ocean. A 90 day leave of absence from Data General to take off on my boat at that time turned into three and a half years.
I get delayed at rest stops. People who travel in motorhomes or RVs tend to be outgoing, friendly and not bogged down with conventional day to day routines.
Everybody says hello, asks where you are from and the next thing you know 30 minutes have passed.
I pulled off the freeway at one point to walk around for a few minutes and have a smoke. A few minutes later a big rig pulled off the freeway on the offramp
behind me. It was a big Kenworth tractor, one of those huge ones with the king size bed in the tractor, high def TV, a head and towing a 53 foot trailer. The
driver got out and walked over to say hello. Her name is Maggie Wincott. She is 38 years old. Think of the gal in the Carl's Jr. commercial where there is a blond
gal in a western hat and western boots in a big rig eating a burger and you've got a pretty darn accurate picture. She asked questions about the bus and I
explained that I lived in it full time. She said that in a few years she planned to do the same thing. She lives in her truck and said she had only seen home two
times in 2008. She has a house in Lexington Kentucky. She was on her way to Phoenix. After Phoenix she was headed to Austin Texas and then to New Orleans.
We talked about New Orleans and shared some Mrs. Fields cookies I had in the bus and just visited for a while. We exchanged emails and phone numbers and
we were both on our way. Unconventional gal with an interesting lifestyle. We talked a few times over the next few hours. She has bluetooth and I do not so I'd
have to pull off the road when a call came in.
Like I said ... I can get sidetracked and don't like to keep a schedule. I kept schedules my entire life short of my boating days and do not intend to have a
schedule or day of the week impact my life again.
I was only 15 miles from Flagstaff and 15 minutes from my final destination which was Ludo's house according to the GPS when a rest area appeared. I had
already called Ludo a few times to tell him of my delay. He was not going to be home until 1:00pm originally and after the first time I called he knew he did not
have to rush to meet me. I had to stop at the rest stop as it was pretty spectacular in the middle of a forest.
The weather was cool and crisp at the higher elevation. The bus runs great at higher elevations as it has a turbo that compensates for altitude changes.
When I arrived in Flagstaff the first thing Ludo said he needed to do was do a bit of shopping for some wine. He had a dinner with friends that evening and I had
been invited. Below is Sam's Club where we went shopping.
About 6:00pm Ludo and I went to his friends for dinner. I met Dieter and Vivian. Dieter has been a hotel executive and has run casinos in Las Vegas. I don't
recall what Vivian does for work. Dieter and Vivian used to be married but are divorced and still great friends. I feel the same way about my ex wife Natalie.
Vivian is a pretty darn impressive lady. She defines herself as being spiritual. She has been to the San Blas Islands and that was one of the topics of conversation
between the two of us. She was in many of the same places I had been and was maybe the first person she had been able to share talking about the place with.
Vivian is also a sun gazer. She explained that you don't gaze at the sun at noon unless you want to go blind but can gaze at it during early sunrise and sunset.
She explained that you receive a certain form of energy and well being. She is a personal trainer and lives in Las Vegas.
I work with a lot of models on that side of my business and Vivian is in her late fifties with the complexion that would put most twenty year olds to shame. Her
haircut was short and it was really a great cut. I would not attempt to shoot a picture as it would not do her justice. Maybe Ludo can take a picture of her
sometime. As a side note, Vivian has been married four times. Maybe three times depending on your way of thinking as she was married very young to the same
person twice. She is a really amazing girl. I won't say woman as her life and spirit are unspoiled and she is a free spirit, open, intelligent, educated woman.
Dieter and Vivian served a great dinner with ceviche to start and a southwestern inspired main course complete with chips in the entree home made by Dieter.
Flan was a perfect dessert and the wine never stopped flowing.
Standing on the balcony outside between courses to have a smoke it was cool and crisp outside with thousands of stars visible in the sky. Vivian and I talked on
the balcony and she shared my cigarette even though she does not smoke. I guess I can be a bad influence. Vivian seemed to me to be the type of girl that
would do a lot of things just to have a new life experience. I think Dieter shares some of the same qualities and I saw a sky diving certificate in his house. He also
stuck me as a very well versed, well educated world traveller who has a very high degree of expertise when it comes to food. The decor in his home was very
impressive in a southwestern theme but not in the way that is typical which most would picture. It was classy and elegant. Great artwork. The music in the
background was Flamenco at times and other forms of music which was all perfect for the evening. I hope to be able to talk to him again in the future.
After a half a dozen large glasses of wine at high altitude I was glad it was a short drive back to the house and I was glad Ludo was driving!
We got back home after 11pm. I started the night in Ludo's house in the guest room. The house is large and two stories. The guest room is upstairs and after
waking up a few times to get a drink of water after being dried out by all the wine I retired to my bus where water could not mean a trip down and back up the
stairs.
In the morning I went on a walk around the area with Ludo and Wylie before Ludo went off to work. It is a lovely area with a lake, fish, ducks, geese and elk. It
was cool on our walk. 30 degrees in the shade and maybe 50 in the sun. There was ice on the ground during the walk. Very clean air.
| It is easy to see when I stop for a long time as I shut down the bus and drop it down releasing the air from the suspension. If you look at some of the other photos on my server you will find a few with KY plates on a truck. Meeting up at this rest stop was another reason for delay. |
| My arrival in Flagstaff where I am parked in front of Ludo's house. At night the temperature was well below freezing but I stayed in the bus most of the evenings. With two heaters it was toasty and warm. |
| Ludo Pierson. I can post his photo because I have posted tons of photos of him over the years because I love his amps ... www.pierson-amps.com |
One day Ludovic Pierson and I spent the entire day in Flagstaff.
Ludo is made one of his classic signature dishes ... steak tartare with his secret recipe sauces. Fresh bread (two kinds) a half a dozen cheeses, lots of wine salad,
home made french fries and who knows what else.
We spent the day in the mountains, in a ski area (no snow this time of year) in historic downtown flagstaff and spent the day walking, eating, drinking wine and
coffee, Ludo got a haircut, we talked to an interesting fellow and some normal people too, met two cool dogs and their owners, kicked back in a wine bar and
other things.
Ludo is made one of his classic signature dishes ... steak tartare with his secret recipe sauces. Fresh bread (two kinds) a half a dozen cheeses, lots of wine salad,
home made french fries and who knows what else.
We spent the day in the mountains, in a ski area (no snow this time of year) in historic downtown flagstaff and spent the day walking, eating, drinking wine and
coffee, Ludo got a haircut, we talked to an interesting fellow and some normal people too, met two cool dogs and their owners, kicked back in a wine bar and
other things.
| First course of a great lunch at Monsoon in dowtown Flagstaff. |
| For those of you that have known me from the days before my second marriage the name babbitt will ring a bell even though her name was spelled with only one "T". So ... that is why I took these photos. |
| Very interesting fellow in downtown Flagstaff. Ludo and I talked to him for a long time and I also received a lot of paperwork from him which I brought back with me. I would not know where to start if I were to write about him so I will just let the photos do the talking. |
| On this day we also went up the mountain to the ski area. From one part of this area you could actually see the Grand Canyon in the far distance. |
| Many of you know about Ludo's cooking skills and know of his steak tartare which is one of my favorites. Here is the start of some home made French fries that will be a part of dinner. |
| A dinner is not an event without cheese! Carl Verheyen knows this too! See more of Carl (if you love to hear great guitarists) at www.carlverheyen.com |
| Some of you may think you have had great steak tartare but unless you have had it with Ludo's secret sauce on top and fresh baked bread to dip in the sauce covered with the steak you are missing something grand in life! |
| Even the doggies can't wait for dinner! |
| My first glass of wine for the evening. I already had wine earlier in the afternoon at the Wine Loft in Flagstaff but what the heck :) |
| More fries, shallots and fresh basil. The shallots and basil are blended into the steak. |
| Ludo's wine but my Coke. Yes ... even with wine around I still drink Coca Cola. I am sure it offends Ludo but he ignores my lack of style in this particular area |
| When Dina comes back from Paris I promised myself that I would take her to Ludo's house so I could watch the two of them work together in the kitchen. |
| On 10/25 we went to Sedona Arizona. Three of us went along and Dieter and Ludo showed me around their favorite spots and Dieter suggested a restaurant which had the best view and environment of just about any restaurant I have ever seen. My photo skills using a camera let alone my cell phone which I used yielded hopeless images at the restaurant. The view was nothing short of spectacular and the lunch (soft shell crab BLTs and ahi tuna appetizer was about as good as a lunch gets. Hopefully some day I can ask my friend Frank Murdock ( www.impliedimages.com ) if he has any photos of this area to post here. Frank knows great food and is a top notch photographer so he may have even been here and took pictures. He has a boat in Lake Powell I believe or somewhere in Arizona so at least I am sure he spends a lot of time in the area. |
| Ludo and Deiter |
| Frank Murdock ... HELP .... I needed you here at lunch to take photos!!!! |
| If you prefer to look at this via myspace just CLICK HERE. The pages here have the earliest entries first and the myspace blog has the most current entries first. The dialog may be different here than in the blog. |
| IMPORTANT NOTE ON MYSPACE BLOGS - Look for this window on the blog ------>>>> Myspace limits displayed page length so if you want to see earlier blog entries look for this window on the left of the blog page and click at the bottom where it says Older. You do not have to change anything in the date boxes. If you are a myspace member feel free to leave blog comments and I will do my best to reply. If you are not a myspace member you should still be able to read comments left by others by clicking on "comments" at the bottom of any blog post where it shows there are any comments. You can also get to the blog by clicking on this white block graphic to the right --->> Starting on page 3 here, on the November 24th and later entries I have direct links to the blog for the particular day noted. If you want to look at earlier entries just click on the link at the top of this page where it says CLICK HERE and you will go to the area of all the blog entries where you can find any of them using the normal myspace procedure. |
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